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During my five years of ownership of my Prado, I have had to replace these SCV valves four times. Twice, they've gone down after going to the same Shell station, so if it's due to problems with the fuel, my fault the second time.
What happens is that the car will make noticeably louder rattling noises, start to lose power, the engine light comes on, and it goes into limp mode. Turn it off for a little while, and it works again (still loud rattling noise), but it'll go out again at some point.... just never know when. Actually, I have no idea if the valves are dying because of impurities or electrical issues, but they do die.
I've noticed that they've started to sell the valves individually (part number 04226-30010). In the past, they were sold as a set - one had a green plastic connector, and one red. Now that they sell them individually, they just have grey connectors. I have no way to check which valve might be dead (or dying), so I'm still going to replace both of them.
The issue is how expensive these little buggers are. For me, Amayama is about the cheapest supplier of original Toyota valves, and that's about US$160 per valve, delivered. If I'm in a hurry (who isn't when their car is dead?), then I'm looking at about US$450 to get a set from the Toyota dealership.
Given that the car isn't totally dead at this point, I've looked into how I might get a couple of sets, and how cheaply I can get them. I hope I'm not crazy, but I've gone ahead and ordered four valves through Alibaba from some supplier in China. Total for the four valves, plus express shipping, is US$207; it's $45 per valve.
I'll let you know if I kill my car.
What happens is that the car will make noticeably louder rattling noises, start to lose power, the engine light comes on, and it goes into limp mode. Turn it off for a little while, and it works again (still loud rattling noise), but it'll go out again at some point.... just never know when. Actually, I have no idea if the valves are dying because of impurities or electrical issues, but they do die.
I've noticed that they've started to sell the valves individually (part number 04226-30010). In the past, they were sold as a set - one had a green plastic connector, and one red. Now that they sell them individually, they just have grey connectors. I have no way to check which valve might be dead (or dying), so I'm still going to replace both of them.
The issue is how expensive these little buggers are. For me, Amayama is about the cheapest supplier of original Toyota valves, and that's about US$160 per valve, delivered. If I'm in a hurry (who isn't when their car is dead?), then I'm looking at about US$450 to get a set from the Toyota dealership.
Given that the car isn't totally dead at this point, I've looked into how I might get a couple of sets, and how cheaply I can get them. I hope I'm not crazy, but I've gone ahead and ordered four valves through Alibaba from some supplier in China. Total for the four valves, plus express shipping, is US$207; it's $45 per valve.
I'll let you know if I kill my car.
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